I found a really excellent method which fixed this quickly. I just give house guests (esp males) a few pieces of chicken and have them freely give it to the pups when they meet them. They LOVE house guests now.
Fear Factor
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We've had our little guy for a week today. Spencer is great!! My husband and youngest son and I went to the breeder and picked him up. Spence has no problems with the three of us, BUT for some reason he is really (and I mean really) afraid of my oldest son who hasn't done anything at all to him. We thought Spence would be over this by now. Any hints?
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What is Specer doing to show he is afraid?
Most likely, I would start having your older son be the only one that feeds Spencer his meals, the only one who gives him treats for now. After a week of that you should se some improvement. Ask him not to try to push Spencer for interaction, just quietly put his food down, and toss treats to him throughout the day.
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I would start having your older son be the only one that feeds Spencer his meals, the only one who gives him treats for now. After a week of that you should se some improvement. Ask him not to try to push Spencer for interaction, just quietly put his food down, and toss treats to him throughout the day.
I agree. We once rescued a basset hound who was terrified of males. After only 2 weeks of getting all meals and snacks from my husband and sons, she was their best buddy. Of course, she was very food motivated. Cory, our basenji, appeared to initially prefer me over my husband. So not only did he start feeding her, he also was the one to "rescue her" from her crate (which she hates). That definitely equalized things.
Good luck,
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Spencer will not even get close to my son. When my son comes into the room he will leave or retreat to the other side of the room. When he reaches for Spencer, Spencer runs. Today my son got a little too close and Spencer took off screaming like he had been hit with something, which was not the case at all. I was right there and watched it happen. Spence was so frightened he pooped while he was running!! It's really sad because my son was so close to our other basenji and it really bothers him Spence just doesn't want anything to do to him. It's strange though, if I pick Spence up and hand him to my son, he will sit with him and let my son pet him…
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Well, we tried having my son put down the food for Spence and he eventually ate it. We are making some progress, thanks to Osca Mayer again. Later Spence actually came and took a piece of hot dog from my son's hand! I think things will be fine. It will just take time.
